Fannie Lou Hamer Collection (MUM00215). The Department of Archives and Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, The University of Mississippi.

Biographical Note

A major figure in Mississippi's civil rights movement, she was a founding member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party created in 1966. One of her most ambitious project was the Freedom Farm Cooperative, in existence between 1969-1974.

Fannie Lou Hamer, a major figure in the civil rights movement, was born into a Montgomery County, Mississippi sharecropping family in 1917. In 1944, Hamer began working on the Marlowe Plantation in Sunflower County where she worked for the next eighteen years until she was fired in 1962 after attempting to register to vote. In 1964, Hamer became one of the founding members of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), established as an alternative to the state's all-white loyalist Democratic party. Hamer served as Vice-Chairman of the MFDP at the state convention in 1964, and that same year she unsuccessfully attempted to challenge Loyalist Jamie L. Whitten for Congress, but her name was not included on the ballot. Hamer did, however, run in a special counter-election held by SNCC that was open to all candidates. In this election, known as "Freedom Vote," Hamer won. In late 1964, Hamer again received national recognition when she challenged the election results on the grounds that black Mississippians were prohibited from voting.* From the late 1960s until her death in 1977, Hamer devoted herself to helping Ruleville's poor black and white families. Hamer's most ambitious project was the Freedom Farm Cooperative, established in 1969. With generous support from Northern liberals, Hamer launched the co-op farm which would provide work, food and a share of the profits for needy black and white farming families. Financial difficulties plagued Freedom Farm throughout its brief history and by 1974, FFC had lost all but forty acres to creditors. Hamer died on March 14, 1977, of heart failure. Her collection consists largely of copies of business records from various organizations (i. e., MFDP, Mississippians United to Elect Negro Candidates, Freedom Farm Co-operative).

Scope and Contents Note

The collection consists mainly of business records from the various organizations with which Hamer was involved (most photocopied from the Amistad Collection in New Orleans). Box 1 contains biographical information on Hamer and documents from various welfare and relief agencies with which she was affiliated. Boxes 2 and 3 contain material related to the MFDP and voting rights drive in the south. Box 4 contains records from the Freedom Farm Co-Operative.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open.

Use Restriction

All publication not covered by fair use restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder.

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Indenture of Trust Creating the FLH Living Memorial Trust, 1977
Letter concerning two films in which Hamer appeared, 1977
Letter from John Ingram, Administrator of the FLH Trust to Nancy Douglas, 22 June 1977, concerning donation to FLH's medical expenses and trust
Letter from Robert G. Johnston, Atty., to Kent Wyatt, President of Delta State University, regarding FLH Trust Fund, 17 July 1978
Letter concerning the foundation of the FLH trust fund, n. d.
Ad soliciting donations for the FLH trust fund, n. d.

Folder 3: FLH Day Care Center

Memos from Joseph Harris, Chairman, Board of Directors, FLH Day Care Center to Employees and Board Members concerning various business matters, 1970
Carbon copies of letters from Joseph Harris, Chairman of the Board, to other board members, 12 January 1970, concerning proposal for Garment Factory in Doddsville, Mississippi
Memos from Joseph Harris, Chairman of the Board of Directors, FLH Day Care Center to other Board members concerning FLH By-Laws, 30 January 1970
FLH Day Care Center Graduation Exercises program, 5 September 1971 (3 copies)
Letter from Dorothy. Height, National President of National Council of Negro Women, to Andrew Dupree, Director of the FLH Day Care Center, 4 May 1976, concerning his termination
Report from the National Council of Negro Women on the establishment of the FLH Day Care Center, n. d.
Various business forms of FLH Day Care Center, n. d.
FLH Day Care Center letterhead and envelope
Budget for FLH Day Care Center, n. d.

Folder 4: Joseph Harris

Resume and cover letter from Joseph Harris to Dorothy Heights, National Council of Negro Women, 24 November 1969, concerning application for directorship of Turn Key Three Project

MFDP Summer, 1966 election brochure (2 copies)
Agenda for MFDP Primary Election Commissioner, 15 March, 1967
List of individuals who voted in 15 March, 1967 Primary Election
List of individuals who did not vote on March 15, 1967
"Meet the Candidates" flyer, Moorhead, Mississippi, 22 March 1967
Results of Sunflower Primary Election, 15 March, 1967
Letter from Otis Brown, Jr., candidate for Mayor of Sunflower, Mississippi, appealing to voters for support, 7 April, 1967 (2 copies)
Program for MFDP state Convention, 16 April 1967
Petition from electors of Sunflower County to have Lela Mae Brooks placed on ballot as candidate for alderman, 2 May, 1967
Petition from electors of Sunflower County to have Annie Mae King placed on ballot as candidate for Alderman, 2 May, 1967
Petition from electors of Sunflower County to have Otis Brown placed on ballot as candidate for Mayor, 2 May, 1967
Petition from electors of Sunflower County to have Mose Griffin placed on ballot as candidate for Alderman, 2 May, 1967
Petition from electors of Sunflower County to have Willie Mae Smith placed on ballot as candidate for Alderman, 2 May, 1967
Petition from electors of Sunflower County to have Elvin Gibson placed on ballot as candidate for Alderman, 2 May, 1967
Letter from Sunflower City Election Headquarters to voters thanking them for participating in recent election, 2 May 1967
Form letters from Joseph Harris to Street Captains in 2 May, 1967 election
Flyer "Special Elections in the Towns of Sunflower and Moorhead, 2 May, 1967" (12 copies)
Invitations to "Evening of Entertainment," at the Club Ebony, Indianola, Mississippi, 10 May, 1967 (8 copies)
List of individuals who voted in 8 November, 1967 election
List of individuals who registered to vote in Sunflower, Mississippi, 1967
Memo to the Election Commissioners, Sunflower, from Mose Griffin, requesting his name be taken off ballot as candidate for Alderman, 1967
Memo from Robert Carter to Election Commissioners, Sunflower, requesting his name be removed from ballot as candidate for Alderman, 1967
Platform of Lela Mae Brooks, 1967
Clippings from various national newspapers and periodicals concerning voting situation in Mississippi, 1967
Transcript of radio promotional spot for Carver Randle, candidate for Mayor of Indianola, 23 January 1968
Letter and sample ballot from Carver Randle to voters thanking them for participating in 23 January, 1968 election
Letter from Sunflower City Election Headquarters to individuals who did not vote in recent election, asking for participation in the next election, n. d.
MFDP Sunflower Election brochure, n. d. (22 copies)

Notice to the citizens of Sunflower urging them not to vote for candidates supported by "racial agitators", n. d.

Folder 4: National Democratic Party of Alabama

NDPA newsletter, The Eagle Eye, July 1969 (3 copies)

Folder 5: Washington County Political Handbook

Washington County Political Handbook distributed by the Freedom Information Service, Tougaloo, n. d.

Folder 6: The People of Freedom City

Newsletter, The P. P. C., published by the People of Freedom City, no. 22, n. d. (4 copies)

Folder 7: School Desegregation

"Guidelines for School Desegregation: A Summary Explanation of the Revised Statement of Policies for School Desegregation Plans under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964," distributed by HEW, Office of Education, Equal Educational Opportunities Program, 1 March, 1966
Pro-Integration brochure published by the School Desegregation Task Force, Jackson, Mississippi, n. d.
Petition from the parents and guardians of children attender Carver Elementary School and Gentry High School in Indianola, Mississippi, listing grievances, n. d.

Memorandum from Indianola NAACP to citizens of Indianola and Sunflower County regarding economic boycott, n. d.

Folder 11: Southern Committee Against Repression (SCAR)

Memo from Ginny Guild, Temporary Secretary-Treasurer, SCAR to Members of SCAR regarding minutes of previous meeting and press release, also copy of press release and minutes of meeting, 18 January, 1969

Folder 12: Steering Committee Against Repression (SCAR)

"Appeal for Justice by the Steering Committee Against Repression," concerning the persecution of H. Rap Brown, and signed by some members of SCAR, n. d.